


Do-Over

by SpenceSpin



Series: Awkward... [1]
Category: Awkward.
Genre: Coming Out, High School, M/M, Religious Conflict
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-01
Updated: 2013-04-02
Packaged: 2017-12-07 03:59:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/743948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpenceSpin/pseuds/SpenceSpin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jenna had a flashback where she chose neither Jake nor Matty, but being the crazy slash fan I am, I prefer at reality. Naturally I made a few...alterations...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Closet Confessions

Today has been...interesting. Lifechanging, even. When I started talking to Matty McKibben at camp, I'd assumed that his goal was to get me into the janitors closet and get in my pants. Instead, he asked for my help. That was how I got sucked into the crazy that is Jatty. Or rather, the bromance that will soon become Jatty. It's going to be a challenge, but we can make it happen.

Matty needed a listening ear, and as the only girl there from his school, it made sense to talk to me. No one else would understand what he was talking about. You see, Jake and Matty have been best friends for as long as anyone can remember, and for Matty to successfully upgrade their relationship he needed a very special plan. So I'd quickly gotten over myself and my now completely hopeless crush, and settled in for the long haul. Thus beginning what I now assume to be my lifelong position as hag for the soon to be couple. Not that I mind too much, they're pretty adorable on their own, together? There are no words to describe the levels of ohgodsocutefuckinghotjesuschrist. It's going to be amazing.

But I'm getting off track. Matty came to me, and did indeed pull me into the janitors closet. He then proceeded to explain his...predicament.

***

"I can see how that's a problem." I knew that I wasn't being particularly supportive, but I was shocked, okay? Matty sat in front of me, biting his lower lip and looking worried. "It'll be fine Matty, we just have to find out if he likes you too, that's all. Simple." Oh good, that sounded sufficiently supportive.

"Not simple, Jenna." Matty replied quickly. "I'm willing to accept that I'm gay, and that it won't change, and I'll even be proud of that one day. But I'm not Clark, I can't throw a pink bag over my shoulder and tell everyone else to fuck off. I just...that's not me." He actually sounded sad about it. Matty McKibben, not perfectly happy to be who he was. I suspected I should feel less shocked than I was, seeing as 16 year olds are never perfectly happy with themselves. But, Matty McKibben!

"It doesn't have to be! You don't have to be crazy over the top. You don't need a pink bag, or even a rainbow pin. You just need to be you, and proud of that." Matty blinked, surprised. "Yeah, I'm a little shocked that I said something helpful too." I said after a moment. Matty grinned, and stood, pulling me up with him.

"Thank you Jenna." He said seriously, throwing an arm across my shoulders. "You really saved the day."

I smiled up at him, "I'll always be here. You look like you could use the support." Glancing at his other hand, shaking slightly at his side. He smiled sheepishly, raising it to rub the back of his neck.

"I just...he's my best friend, and I love him. So much. I can't fuck this up."

"You won't." I elbowed him lightly in the side, "I'm here to help, and you're a smart guy."

***

So it all began with a boy who realized he wanted to change his bromance into something more real, but didn't know how to do it. I don't know why Matty picked me, but I don't intend to let him down.


	2. Family is Tough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit about Matty. I know that in the series the McKibbens aren't a particularly religious family, but I wanted that to be an element to the story, so I took another bit of authorial license.

This week has been a pretty good one. Matty and I have spent a lot of time together, and I'm actually a little surprised how well we mesh. I never would have thought that Matty McKibben would have the makings of a best guy friend. Of course, no one really thinks that he is just a friend. My dad gave him condoms. You should have seen his face! He turned absolutely green, and the look of horror! It was priceless. 

Even better was the fact that Jake seemed a little jealous of how much time I've been spending with Matty. Whenever we aren't at camp Jake and Matty are glued together. They make their entire lives revolve around each other, and they don't seem to realize that they're doing it. It's pretty freaking adorable. From what I can tell, Matty has no reason to worry.

***

"Are you sure this is going to be helpful?" I asked Matty doubtfully. I had no interest in going to the beach with the popular crowd. Sadie is, as far as I am concerned, evil embodied and she cannot be trusted. Not to mention the only bathing suit I own, which was bought by my mom at the beginning of the summer, in an attempt to convince me to go tanning with her. The tiny, wine red string bikini was too small to serve any sort of purpose, let alone one that involved public decency.

"Jenna, we have to go!" Matty replied, "Jake is dying to meet you, and you guys haven't been free at the same time all week. He already promised he'd be there, so this is the only option." Damn his logic. Boys that pretty shouldn't be allowed to be smart too, it just wasn't fair.

"But-"

"Jenna, you look smokin', even I can see that. Why not show off a little bit, it'll be good for you." One of the side effects of us spending so much time together, especially at my house, is that Matty knows all about the crazy issues my mom and I have about how I look. He knows that mom thinks I ruined her figure, even if she doesn't so much mind it, and that she thinks I'm wasting my own good qualities. "You haven't been to the beach at all this summer, and you deserve to enjoy it. And you never know, someone might catch your eye." He teased.

I glared playfully, "You know that I'm going to be way too busy playing wingman to pay attention to the hetero portion of the male population." I grinned mischievously, "It would feel pretty good to enjoy some real, care-free teenaged time for a bit though." When we weren't at camp we were a little to busy making sure Matty's whole world didn't fall apart to just relax. 

"Wouldn't it just?" Matty asked, sighing dramatically.

"How're they taking it? Any better?" Matty had told his family, and they loved him dearly. They were trying.

"Not really. Everything is still really weird." She shrugged, making a face.

"A least they're trying?" I half-asked, hoping to put a positive spin on the awkward that was Matty's current home life.

"That's actually part of the problem. I'm so glad that they care enough to make an effort, especially since dad won't even talk to me anymore. He told mom that he doesn't want his visitation rights anymore." Matty shrugged again, seeing my sympathetic reaction, "Its not really surprising, and I'm so, so glad that mom and James care enough to try. Don't get me wrong, I love that they are willing to try and reconcile years and years of what our faith has told us is wrong. It just..." He trailed off, not quite sure how to verbalize how he felt.

"It sucks that they have to try, that its an effort."

"Yeah. I want them to be able to just love me, no need to think or process." 

"They do love you Matty, really. The processing probably has more to do with upgrading their expectations." I smiled at him, "Because that's exactly what it is. This is the real you, definitely the best version."

"You are my absolute favorite Jenna Hamilton." Matty replied, hugging me tightly.

"False." I said firmly, mostly speaking to his sternum, as opposed to his actual person, "Jake Rosati is your absolute favorite. I'm perfectly happy to be second though."

***

This has been a very delicate process, planning the Jatty Get Together. If we don't get every detail right, Matty could lose his best friend since infancy. If we're too pushy about the timeline though, or too hesitant, they'll never get their relationship off the ground. And I do not intend to fail. If I'm going to lose out on two such fantastic specimens of male beauty, I intend for the reason to be that they are together. I refuse to allow this to crash and burn.

Matty deserves to be happy. He's worked so hard to find a middle ground between his Catholisism and his sexuality. His family took it pretty hard, and things have been weird ever since. No matter how hard they try, it is going to stay weird for awhile. So as far as I'm concerned, he deserves something good, and I'm beginning to understand that in his world, Jake is really the only 'something good' that he'll ever want.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I"ll actually get to the beach tomorrow. For now, it was more important to get a little background on the McKibben family and their issues.


End file.
